


Rebuilding Trust

by Miko



Series: Trust In Me [2]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-08
Updated: 2011-08-08
Packaged: 2017-10-22 10:00:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/236831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miko/pseuds/Miko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Trolls are aggressive and have a lot of sharp edges. Humans are fragile, and usually don't enjoy pain. This will not end well, unless Karkat can bring himself to trust John.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rebuilding Trust

**Author's Note:**

> This is a sequel to 'A Matter of Trust', though I did try to write it such that you could appreciate it on its own. I wanted a chance to explore how the horn-submission issue would affect sex, and also a chance to have some bloodplay. They worked out well together. ^_^

The sharp, metallic tang of blood burst over Karkat's tongue, and he shuddered in pleasure even as he swore silently to himself. Tasting blood meant he'd gone too far, broken John's ridiculously fragile skin, and he needed to pull back _now_.

But instinct was too strong, and Karkat couldn't stop himself from sinking his teeth deeper still, tongue lapping eagerly at the warm fluid.

"Nnh, ow, _ow_ Karkat, stop!" John protested, squirming in pain and shoving at Karkat's shoulders.

Cursing viciously under his breath, Karkat finally managed to get his brain back in control of his body, and backed off. "Sorry, I'm sorry," he mumbled. Without thinking about it he licked his lips, and a low whine escaped him when he tasted the blood again.

"Just... just take it easy," John tried to soothe him, running his hands up and down Karkat's back. They were sitting on the human's bed, shirtless, and until that moment it had been the most successful make-out session they'd managed to have.

Panting, Karkat tried desperately to get ahold of himself. Blood ruled so much of the life of a troll; even between matesprits spilling it during sex was expected, almost necessary to the process. But humans were so stupidly frail, and their reaction to even the most minor of pains seemed to be one hundred percent negative. Even when he was being careful, Karkat still always managed to hurt John somehow.

"Lay back, relax," John urged him. "Let me control things, maybe that will work."

"Yeah, ok," Karkat agreed. He'd have agreed to just about anything that would mean John would continue instead of pulling away like he usually did when Karkat got too rough. Clenching his fists in the sheets to stop himself from clawing at John, Karkat laid back against the soft pillows and took deep breaths, trying to force his muscles to relax.

John leaned in and kissed him again. They'd done this enough times that the human had long since gotten over his shyness, and John licked and nibbled at Karkat's lips with enthusiasm. Karkat could barely feel the blunt teeth on his much tougher skin, but what he could feel was amazing.

He kissed back, fiercely controlling the urge to bite. Their tongues met in the middle, Karkat's curling around John's and John pushing back against him.

Then John shoved himself up and swung his leg over Karkat's thighs, so he was straddling Karkat. Their groins ground together, and they both gasped. Karkat could feel something hard, like a bone bulge but longer and rounder, rubbing against the mound of his bulge.

"Fuck, John," Karkat cried out, his voice breaking on the words as his windtube started to close. They'd never gone this far, never allowed contact below the waist, both because of John's continued skittishness about being 'homosexual' and because Karkat could never stop himself from ruining everything by hurting John somehow.

If letting John take control meant they would finally _get_ somewhere, Karkat swore to himself that he would damn well lie there and take it. Forever, if need be.

"Mmm, yeah okay, that's good," John babbled against his mouth. "Fuck, Karkat, that feels so... yeah."

He pulled back, and Karkat opened his mouth to object, but the only sound that emerged was a low, drawn-out warble as John fastened his flat teeth over a chunk of Karkat's neck.

His back arched and he dug his claws into the fabric until he felt it giving way. "Harder," he hissed, both a plea and a command. "Fuck, John, _harder_."

John bit down harder, but the contact still felt tentative. Karkat squirmed, rubbing their groins again, and was rewarded with an increase in pressure. It wasn't nearly enough, dull force without the bright star of pain and hot spill of blood. It was the worst kind of tease, promising ecstasy and not delivering. "More," he begged, breathless.

Pressure continued to increase until suddenly it _was_ pain, sensation shooting along his nerves and making him keen with the intense pleasure.

He didn't realize that he'd let go of the sheets to clutch at John until the sound of the human's frantic cries penetrated the static rushing through his think pan. Belatedly Karkat registered the feel of soft flesh giving way beneath his fingers, his claws digging in hard enough that he could feel warm liquid welling up around his fingertips.

" _Fuck_ ," Karkat exclaimed, and pushed John away from him. He scrambled back, wedging himself into the corner at the head of the bed, literally sitting on his hands. Both so that he wouldn't be tempted to grab John again, and so that he wouldn't see the enticing blood smeared over his claws. It was bad enough looking at the little patches of candy red that were spreading over John's side, tiny spots that perfectly matched the placement of Karkat's fingers.

"I'm sorry," John blurted out, miserable. He explored the damage, wincing as he touched the bloody spots. "Really, Karkat, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to go too far..."

"Too far?" Karkat repeated, dazed. The rapid emotional ups and downs provoked by a make out session with John always left him a little stunned, and made it hard to think. "What the fuck are you apologizing for, idiot?"

"For biting too hard," John said. There was real distress in his voice and expression, and he was cringing from Karkat as if he expected the troll to hit him. "Isn't that why you clawed me, to get me to stop? It seemed like you were enjoying it, but then suddenly you grabbed at me."

"What? No, idiot, that wasn't..." Taking a deep breath, Karkat closed his eyes for a moment and struggled for control. He needed to be able to say this at least relatively coherently. He'd have rubbed at his face, except that he knew bringing his bloody hands anywhere near his mouth was not going to help the situation.

When he opened his eyes again, he fixed John with as firm a stare as he could manage. "You didn't go too far. I'm honestly not sure you _could_ , as dull as your teeth and claws are. That felt fucking _amazing_ , the first time you've managed to do it right, and the only thing that would have made it better was if you'd bitten harder."

"If I'd bitten you any harder, you'd be bleeding," John protested, reaching out to touch the spot on Karkat's neck. The contact made a tiny thrill of pain run down Karkat's spine, and he shuddered as a soft chirp escaped him.

"Yesssss, exactly the point," he hissed out, barely managing to keep his hands safely underneath him. "Then it would have felt even better."

"But we're not kismesis," John said, frowning deeply as he pulled his hand back. "Why do you want me to hurt you?"

Karkat barked a laugh, a short, sharp sound that made John flinch. "Egbert, believe me, if we were kismesis I'd be expecting a lot more blood than a couple of half-assed bites and a little clawing could create. You'd have to hurt me a fuck of a lot more than that before it actually hurt." He paused, running that back through his mind, and sighed. "Your stupid language doesn't have the right words. Pain that feels good and pain that feels bad both come out as 'hurt'."

"If it feels good, it's not pain," John said, looking both puzzled and frustrated.

"Yeah, and you think hate isn't a kind of love, too," Karkat retorted, rolling his eyes. The mood had broken enough that he finally felt safe pulling his hands out, and he raked one through his hair. This was so _frustrating_. Why couldn't he ever manage to explain simple, self-evident concepts to John?

Though the fact that the English language didn't even have the right words to describe what he was attempting to convey didn't help, and probably meant that it wasn't John's fault that he couldn't seem to grasp it. The failing was inherent in the human race, not just this particular stupid human.

"So you clawed me because I hurt you and it felt good, so you were trying to hurt me to make it feel good in return?" John asked, and Karkat nodded. "But I don't like being hurt!"

"I _know_ , fuck, don't you think I know that?" Karkat gnashed his teeth and pulled at a handful of his hair. "I can't help it, it's a reflex! And once I taste your blood it's even harder to hold myself back, because every instinct I have is telling me that means I'm doing it right."

They sat there and stared at each other for a long moment, and Karkat could tell that pretty much the same thoughts he was having were also running through John's head. Karkat couldn't enjoy himself properly until things got a little rough, but as soon as they did, he couldn't help but be rough with John, who didn't like it. It was a problem that had no good solution, or at least not one that Karkat could see.

"This isn't going to work, is it?" John asked miserably. He looked like someone had just killed his lusus, totally heartbroken. "We've been together since before the game ended, and we still haven't gotten past kissing and a little touching. Every time it seems like we're finally getting somewhere, it all falls apart again and it's worse than before."

"Don't say that," Karkat snapped, his blood running cold. The words alone would have been enough to chill him, but when combined with that pathetic expression on the human's face they made him feel like an utter failure of a matesprit. "Damn it, don't fucking tell me you're giving up that easily, Mr. Sunshine and Rainbows, Love Will Conquer All. You're going to dump me just because we're having a little trouble getting to the pail?"

"No! That's not what I mean," John said, shaking his head. He paused, and his shoulders slumped. "Or maybe it is what I mean. I don't even know anymore, Karkat. We've been through so much, and I really love you. I think losing you might kill me. But having you without being able to be _with_ you might kill me faster. Out of sheer frustration, if nothing else."

"We'll find a way," Karkat insisted. "I don't care what it takes. There has to be something. We'll find it. I'm _not_ letting go of you." Putting actions to words, he reached out and grabbed John by the shoulders, hauling his matesprit closer to him until John was forced to either give in and cuddle him back, or suffocate from having his nose pressed into Karkat's chest.

John chose to cuddle back, of course, shifting until he was leaning against Karkat's thorax with his head resting on Karkat's shoulder. His thick hair tickled Karkat's cartilage nub when he turned his head to nuzzle John.

"We'll figure it out," Karkat repeated. Now if only he could make himself believe the words.

* * *

"They don't like pain at all, huh?" Sollux frowned as he ran his fingers over the electrical component in his other hand. Karkat wasn't sure if the frown was due to the conversation or the piece of computer. Both of them were still getting used to the bizarre non-organic nature of human computer equipment, and in some ways Sollux was at a disadvantage because he was _so_ good with Alternian computers. It was therefore that much harder for him to switch gears, and of course it didn't help that even after perigees of coaching from Terezi, Sollux still wasn't nearly as proficient at 'seeing' things by scent as she was.

"Not even a little bit," Karkat grumbled, sorting through a box of cables. "What's more, their definition of 'pain' is pretty fucking loose. _No_ teeth, practically no claws, fuck, I can't even hang on too tightly or he yelps."

"Sounds pretty pathetic, and not in the good way." Sollux shrugged and tossed the component into the box of 'might be useful' bits, and picked up the next one. Karkat had invited him over to try - once again - to find a way to combine the Alternian and human equipment into some kind of improved whole. Working while they talked gave them both an excuse to concentrate on what they were doing and not have to look at each other, if the discussion strayed into vulnerable territory. It was probably the closest they would ever come to a feelings jam, pile or no pile.

Theirs was a very weird sort of moiraillegiance, but it worked for them. Right now Karkat appreciated it more than ever.

"Pathetic is definitely one word for it," Karkat agreed darkly, hand clenching a little too tightly on a length of wiring. He forced himself to ease up before he bent them too far and snapped something inside. "Frustrating as fucking hell would be another. We're hardly any closer to pailing than the first time we ever kissed!"

His brain caught up to his mouth a moment later, and he blushed hotly. Yeah, Sollux was his moirail, but that had been a little blunt even for Karkat.

Thankfully the raunchy statement didn't appear to have bothered the other troll. "You should probably be thankful he isn't grabbing your horns to subdue you, given his history," Sollux snorted. He'd probably have been rolling his eyes, if he'd still had any to roll. "I guess the way you nearly killed him last time actually sank in. Or are you still letting him do that to you?"

Stunned, Karkat paused with his hand half buried in a box of components, staring at his moirail. He couldn't even work up the ire to respond to the familiar taunting. "That's it," he breathed out, eyes wide. "Sollux, you pitiful fuck, you're brilliant."

"Wait, what?" Sollux tilted his head, and his puzzled look slowly changed to one of mingled chagrin and horror. "KK, I wasn't serious. Please tell me you're not actually going to let him do that to you again, after what happened last time!"

"Fine, I won't let him do that to me again," Karkat lied. His bloodpusher was pounding so hard he was surprised Sollux couldn't hear it, both with nerves and anticipation. Why hadn't he thought of that solution? No troll could be aggressive when somebody was touching the base of their horns, invoking their submission reflex. Millennia of evolution ensured that. And it was the 'hot noises' Karkat had apparently made the last time he'd allowed John to touch him there that had at long last pushed their relationship from twisted human 'friendship' to a proper, pitying matespritship.

Of course, there had been that tiny intermediate step of Karkat very nearly killing John, plus days of wallowing in shame and mortification before they'd finally worked it out. That was the source of the nerves, and of Sollux's disbelief that Karkat would allow John to touch him like that again.

Well, that and the fact that the vast majority of trolls considered horn-touching to be _extremely_ kinky.

"KK, look, I didn't say anything about how stupid it was when you decided to make him your matesprit after he betrayed you like that..."

"Yes you did," Karkat reminded him acidly. "At length and in great detail. And then you declared yourself my moirail whether I liked it or not, 'because somebody has to make sure you don't do anything else this lethally moronic,' I believe were your exact words."

"Well, okay, but I didn't actually _stop_ you," Sollux countered. "Mostly because you'd already done it and convincing you to take it back would only have alienated the humans more. Right now is when I'm making good on that promise to save you from future lethal stupidity. _Do not_ make yourself that vulnerable in front of someone who has already proved that he doesn't understand what it means and won't respect it. Let him tie you up or something, if you want to get kinky that badly."

"Oh yeah, that's a great idea," Karkat said, shuddering at the thought. "Let's kick every aggressive instinct I have into overdrive in an attempt to keep me from hurting him. Have you ever actually been tied up, Captor? Pretty much the _only_ thing you can think about is fighting your way free again."

"Do I want to know how you know that?"

"Shut up, everybody knows that. And wipe that fucking smirk off your seedflap before I tear it off for you. It had nothing to do with John, it happened in the game!"

"Sure, sure. I believe you. Totally."

Growling, Karkat punched him, and he didn't pull the blow. Much. Why did he have to have the most annoying grubfucker in all the universes as his moirail?

Thankfully Sollux's smirk faded before the urge to strangle him overwhelmed Karkat. The other troll sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, and when he spoke again there was nothing mocking in his tone. "Just... just think about it really hard before you do it, okay? _Really_ hard. Remember how it felt when he dumped you helpless and vulnerable in the hallway. Remember how much you really wanted to kill him, how close you actually came to doing it. What if it goes wrong again? What if there's still something he doesn't understand, and neither of you know it but it will ruin everything? What if you _lose your matesprit_ because of a stupid, dumb decision that you rushed into?"

Oh. Right. That's why Karkat kept him. Because Sollux really did pity him, even if he had a funny way of showing it sometimes.

"I'll think about it," Karkat promised, subdued. "I will. It's just... at least it would be better to lose him because we were trying to fix it, than to lose him because we didn't do anything and it all fell apart."

Unfortunately Sollux didn't seem to have anything helpful to say to that.

* * *

"All right, fuckass," Karkat declared, storming into John's respite block. The human looked up from his computer and blinked in surprise, but Karkat ploughed right over anything he might have said. "I've thought it over, and I've come up with a solution. Brace yourself, because one way or another, we _are_ doing this."

"Where making this happen?" John replied with an oddly tilted smile.

"What?" Karkat stared at him blankly, his train of thought thoroughly derailed by the nonsense reply. That wasn't even the right word, was it?

"Never mind," John said, shaking his head with a soft laugh. "What are we doing?"

"Getting farther than a fucking saliva-swapping session," Karkat growled, throwing himself down on the bed and pointing imperiously at the spot beside him. "Sign off with whoever you're talking to and get over here right the fuck now."

"Um. Okay?" John looked a little startled and baffled. He turned back to his computer just long enough to type something into his chat window, then shut the whole system down. He stood to make his way over to the bed, and Karkat took the opportunity to sneak a quick, admiring look at his matesprit's body. No complaints there; John had shot up and was filling out quite nicely. Not all that muscled compared to a troll, but the hints of definition were starting to be there beneath his increasingly-tight t-shirts.

Impatient as ever, Karkat snagged John by the front of his shirt the moment the human was in range, and yanked him down onto the bed beside him. John was laughing as he was pulled down, but Karkat was able to muffle the annoying sound beneath his lips without much trouble. It was the best way to shut the idiot up that he'd ever found.

John moaned and kissed him back, tongue sliding between Karkat's lips to steal all his breath. Karkat clenched his teeth together, both to remind himself not to bite and to make sure John wouldn't slice his tongue open by accident. That meant he couldn't bring his own tongue into play, but it was worth it to avoid ending things early in a spill of blood.

As opposed to ending them a little later in a spill of blood. Shit, why did humans have to be such delicate fucking snowflakes?

Cautiously Karkat brought his hands up, sliding his fingers along John's back, careful not to press too hard with his claws. John squirmed under the touch, but he was making those low mewling sounds that meant Karkat was doing it right. They were both starting to breathe hard, and Karkat pushed at John until the human finally got the hint and laid back on the bed.

Propped up on one elbow, Karkat finally opened his teeth enough to let him brush his tongue against John's. The contact made them both squirm, Karkat chirping softly as John moaned again. Breaking away from the kiss, Karkat trailed his mouth down over the column of John's neck, eagerly lapping at the sweat-salty flavour of his skin.

Now they were back in the same position they'd been in earlier, only with their shirts still on this time. Karkat's questing tongue found the scabs that had formed where he'd bitten John, and even dried the taste of the human's blood was a trigger.

Gasping for air, Karkat wrenched his mouth away and sat back before he could give in to the temptation to bite. John lay there panting, looking up at him with confusion and wariness. The former emotion was only to be expected. The latter cut Karkat to the core, even though it probably should have been expected, too. Your matesprit wasn't supposed to be wary of you, ever. Damn it, how had they managed to screw this up so badly?

"Um, I'm not sure what your solution is, but it doesn't seem to be making anything different so far," John ventured tentatively. "You nearly bit me just then, didn't you?"

"Yes, because we haven't implemented my solution yet," Karkat told him. He swallowed hard, suddenly having second thoughts about this. Sollux was right; what if something went wrong that they hadn't anticipated? He _thought_ John fully understood the seriousness of the situation now, but what if he didn't?

There were no other options, he reminded himself harshly. "There is exactly one way to effectively stop a troll from being in any way aggressive," he said, his voice rough, not quite able to meet John's eyes. "You already know what it is. Don't make me fucking say it."

"Huh?" John was clearly baffled for a moment, before realization struck and his eyes lit up with eager anticipation. "You mean, you'll let me touch your horns again? For real? Oh, but..." he frowned. "You can't move or do anything when I do that, can you? I mean, it would work to stop you from biting and clawing me, but that's not all that much fun, either."

"Obviously, grubtard," Karkat retorted. "Which is why you're not going to sit there and do it for fifteen fucking minutes, this time. Just long enough to get me thoroughly subdued and make sure the endorphins are in control of my think pan. I'll stay passive and suggestible for a good long while afterwards, judging by what happened before. And if it starts to wear off, you can just do it again."

He was blushing hard by the time he finished that explanation. It was mortifying to talk about, and even worse to acknowledge that he was actually discussing something that would be done to him, not just a hypothetical situation.

"Okay, then... can I...?" John made a tentative movement towards Karkat's horns with one hand, and Karkat flinched away.

"Just hang on, Egbert," Karkat muttered. He still remembered the way his cartilage nub had ached for days after the abrupt way it had encountered John's thigh, the last time they'd done this. He wasn't stupid enough to make the same mistake twice.

Flopping down into the pillows, Karkat squirmed around until he was lying face up, hands securely fastened in the sheets just in case. "Okay," he rasped, not sure if his windtube was closing up from nerves or anticipated pleasure. "Go ahead."

The few seconds it took John's hand to reach his horn seemed to drag out into an eternity, and Karkat was nearly hyperventilating by the time contact was finally made. Then John's fingers slid down the hard nub to find the tender flesh at the base, and the human squeezed his hand around it.

Subduing hormones and endorphins shot through Karkat's system, loosening his muscles and clouding his mind. His breathing slowed so abruptly it made him dizzy, or maybe that was just a side effect of the hand on his horn.

Fuck, he'd forgotten just _how_ good this felt. Bliss swept over him, and Karkat gave himself to it willingly. The tiny part of him that was nervous about a repeat of last time's fiasco was completely buried under the spell of lethargic pleasure.

Then suddenly the hand was gone, and the intensity of the sensation with it. Karkat managed to make a protesting chirping noise, and sluggishly opened his eyes to find John leaning over him.

"Karkat?" John said, slowly like he was trying to make sure Karkat could understand him. Come to think of it, that was rather helpful, considering it felt like his brain was only working at half speed. "Karkat, are you still with me? Damn it, did I do it too long?"

Coherent speech was beyond him, but Karkat could warble enticingly as he lifted one hand to curl around the back of John's neck. His claws scraped sensitive flesh, but there was no pressure behind the motion, because it felt like there was no strength left in his body.

"Oh... I guess it worked?" John said, concern transforming into impish delight. "So, you said you'd be suggestible. That means you'll do anything I tell you to, right?"

Under ordinary circumstances a question like that - especially accompanied by that expression - would have had Karkat on full high alert. At the moment he couldn't even manage to be mildly concerned. He just nodded slightly, and basked in the warmth of John's answering smile.

"Then kiss me, but no biting," John ordered, and leaned down to seal their mouths together.

With the constant push of aggression gone, Karkat discovered that kissing was a much different experience. Their mouths slid together with exquisite slowness, John occasionally flicking his tongue out to explore this or that sensitive point in Karkat's mouth. Karkat tried to match the motions, but all he really managed to do was rub his tongue against John's. The human didn't seem to be complaining.

Far from it, he was making enthusiastic noises and pressing harder against Karkat's mouth. For once John was being the aggressive one, and Karkat found that he liked the change. He tightened his grip around John's neck a little, not digging his claws in but just applying pressure, encouraging John the best way he could.

Breaking away at last, John gasped for air. "Okay, yeah, I think this is working," John said happily. "I could do this for hours. Karkat? You doing okay?"

"Nnngh," Karkat replied, and felt his lips quirking faintly in a smile. Smiling? Him? The endorphins were messing with his head more than he'd realized.

Not that he cared, at least not at the moment. He pulled John down for another kiss, recovered enough this time to participate a little better. John nipped at Karkat's lips, which made him shudder every time with pleasure.

Karkat wasn't sure how long they continued like that. At some point his other hand found its way to John's back, first tracing aimless patterns over the fabric of the other boy's shirt, and then sliding up underneath when he had enough coordination back to manage it. John rewarded him by trailing his mouth down over Karkat's throat and biting him again, this time digging in with his blunt teeth quite hard right from the start.

A soft, rumbling growl rose in Karkat's windtube, interfering with the chirps and warbles he'd already been making. The urge to aggress was increasing again, and he had to struggle not to tighten his hand too much on John's neck. Or worse, rake his claws down the boy's back.

Perhaps sensing the tension in Karkat's body, John freed one hand and raised it to tweak the base of Karkat's horn, though he didn't lift his mouth from Karkat's neck. If anything he bit down harder, teeth finally sinking through the tough skin and making a bright star of pain burst behind Karkat's closed eyes.

He went limp again, despite the way the bite was making him want to writhe. It also meant he stopped playing over John's back, but his hand stayed where it was.

Finally John eased up on the bite, and Karkat responded with a quivering warble of protest. To his delight John wasn't stopping, only changing locations to nip repeatedly up the length of Karkat's jaw. "You like that hmm?" John murmured, his voice husky. "Fuck, Karkat, you really do make the most amazing noises."

He shifted until he was kneeling above Karkat, one knee between Karkat's legs and pressed up against his shame globes in the most amazing way. Karkat keened and rocked against him, fighting to move his hips against the subduing influence of the endorphins. He couldn't manage much more than tiny, spastic movements, and John didn't even seem to notice what he was doing.

"I wonder if you'll make different sounds if I bite you in different places?" John mused aloud, and Karkat could hear that wicked smirk in his voice. He brought his mouth to the top arch of Karkat's ear, nibbling at the curve all the way from the spot where it joined his head to where it ended in a point. Karkat's warbles turned into something closer to mewls as John bit down harder at the end.

It felt unbelievably good, the sharp sting of teeth combined with the soft heat of John's breath flowing over the responsive surface of his ear. Karkat would have squirmed if he could have. His bulge was out, he realized, the sensitive organ sending sparks skittering through his nervous system as it writhed, simultaneously restrained and stimulated by the tough material of his pants. Thankfully John's knee was connecting just low enough not to put pressure against his bulge, because that _would_ have been the kind of pain that hurt in a bad way.

As coordination slowly returned, Karkat resumed tracing patterns over the fragile skin of John's back. He slid his other hand higher into the human's hair, tugging gently at the short locks and scraping over his scalp. The contact made John produce some pretty hot noises of his own, stoking the fire building inside Karkat ever higher.

There was one major flaw in his brilliant plan to keep himself from hurting John and to take things farther, Karkat realized dizzily. Since he couldn't talk or even really move, he had no way to warn John that things were going a little _too_ far. At least, too far for the fact that they were both still fully dressed and hadn't in any way discussed having actual sex.

Not to mention there wasn't a pail in sight.

He tightened his hand on John's neck, trying to get the human's attention and also pull him back a little. The move backfired as John apparently took it as a sign that Karkat was getting aggressive again, and he rubbed against Karkat's horn instead of breaking off to let Karkat talk.

Going completely limp for the third time, Karkat shuddered as pleasure swept over him in unending waves. This was bad, he _knew_ it was bad, knew he needed to find a way to put a stop to it before things got even more out of hand. But he couldn't bring himself to care enough to protest through the rush of endorphins.

Then John shifted position, drawing away from Karkat's ear so he could stretch up further. Karkat's breath stopped in his windtube entirely as he realized John was going for his horns.

The hot, wet sensation of John's mouth connected with the nerve-packed flesh at the base of one of his horns, and Karkat forgot everything else. It was a million, a billion times better than having John's hands there, so good that Karkat honestly thought he might die of pleasure overload. Karkat cried out, softly but repeatedly, the helpless chirps escaping him in a ragged stream.

Now he was _really_ in danger of embarrassing himself. He couldn't even squirm away from the pressure on his shame globes, or try to shift position to ease the stimulation of his bulge. He was keening faintly, the only sound he could hope to make, but it only seemed to be encouraging John.

The faint scrape of dull teeth against the base of his horn was such a jolt Karkat thought he could feel actual lightning running through his body. Shit, John was taking his begging for biting and bloodletting a little too seriously. If he bit down _there_ , Karkat was one hundred percent certain he wouldn't be able to stop himself from breaking.

 _Don't bite, please don't bite, oh fuck don't bite,_ the tiny remaining rational part of his mind babbled, while the entire rest of his body and soul screamed _PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!_

Apparently John was listening to the louder part of Karkat's psyche, if he was listening at all. He sank his teeth into the sensitive flesh, not breaking the skin but hard enough to make the most amazing burst of pleasure flare in Karkat's think pan. His whole body jerked with the force of it, despite the way his muscles were still forcibly held limp. The spike of pleasure rushed down his spine, and when it hit his groin everything went white and hot.

Karkat lost track of reality completely, utterly consumed by the most intense pleasure he could ever remember feeling. When he finally came back to himself, the mouth at his horn was gone. Groggily he forced his eyes open, and found John kneeling above him at a short distance, looking down at him with an expression of astonishment and desire. The blush that spread over his cheeks was as deeply red as the genetic material that was now turning Karkat's pants into a soggy mess.

"Karkat?" John asked, probably when he saw Karkat's eyes open. Somehow Karkat managed the faintest of nods to indicate that he was listening. "Did... did you just... wow, holy shit, you totally did, didn't you." Astonishment edged into envy. "Um. I, uh, didn't mean to go that far... I mean, I didn't think we were going to, you didn't tell me you could, you know, get off just from _that_."

'Just from that', he said, like it wasn't the most intense sensation Karkat had ever experienced. Mentally Karkat made a note to chew the idiot out later, just on principle. Right now it was all he could do to remember to breathe.

But that hint of envy was bothering him, and he knew it wouldn't be right to leave things like this. Though he was still thoroughly under the spell of the subduing endorphins, Karkat found he was able to move his hand as long as he concentrated hard and didn't try to go too fast. He slid it down John's back, then down over the human's hip until he could cup John's groin, feeling the hard length of his not-bulge through the heavy material of his pants.

John gave a startled moan and ground down against him. Obviously pressure wasn't a problem, judging by the way he was frantically rubbing the length of his bulge against Karkat's palm. Karkat closed his fingers tentatively around the curve, and was rewarded with another heartfelt noise of desire from John.

In moments the human's movements had grown erratic, and soon after John cried out sharply and went still, panting over him. Karkat thought he felt the barest trace of moisture seeping through the cloth and the top of the hard shape, but it was nothing compared to what he'd expected. Fuck, no wonder humans didn't need pails.

John was trembling, his arms actually shaking where he had his hands braced on either side of Karkat's shoulders to prop himself up. Karkat caught him by the hip and tugged him down, bracing himself for the inevitable moment when John collapsed on top of him. All the air fled him with a whoosh, but it was worth it for the soft, warm feel of John's body sprawled over his.

"Mmmnnnmm... thhhnnnh..." Coughing, Karkat cleared his throat and tried again. "Think that was a success," he said, the words slow and careful but comprehensible.

It took him a moment to identify the sound John was making into his shoulder as a laugh. "Yeah, I think that was good," John agreed breathlessly, lifting his head to smile at Karkat. "I'll probably get better at reading you over time, so I know when to touch your horns and you can participate more." He was still blushing brightly, but he sported a dazed, sated expression that Karkat immediately decided he wanted to see more of. At every possible opportunity.

"Next time, pail," Karkat said succinctly, trying to ignore the force of his own blush. "Also some way for me to tell you to back off, shit."

"You complaining?" John asked, raising an eyebrow at him, laughter dancing in his eyes. "Because it sure didn't sound like it at the time."

" _Fuck_ no," Karkat hastily assured him. "Not complaining. Not at all. Just... don't want it to end so fast, next time," he finished in a mumble.

"Mmm. Yeah, okay," John agreed happily, snuggling back against his shoulder again. "Sounds good. And also yeah, pail, wow. Oh, uh, I suppose you probably want to get cleaned up," he said, pushing himself up.

Karkat pushed him right back down again. "Later," he declared, shifting his hand so he could rub gently at John's back again. "Right now I don't care about anything. Except how good you feel."

"Awww, Karkat, that was really sweet," John exclaimed. "So does that mean I can..." he gestured awkwardly at Karkat's horns. "You know, even when we're not...?"

"If you aren't mature enough to talk about it, you're sure as fuck not mature enough to do it," Karkat told him, blithely ignoring his own earlier inability to bring himself to directly order John to touch his horns.

"Oh, all right, fine," John huffed in mock indignation. "Can I touch your horns even when we're not having s-sex?"

Only a minor stammer at the end, Karkat supposed that deserved a reward. He wrapped his arms more firmly around John's waist, and smiled into the human's hair where John wouldn't be able to see it. "Maybe once in a while. You don't want me building up a tolerance or something, do you?"

"Yeah, I think that's about as likely as building up a tolerance to getting off, judging by the way you were reacting," John replied, laughing. He slipped one hand up to rub gently at Karkat's horn again.

Karkat didn't quite manage to get out a curse before he went limp once more. He hadn't intended that to be an _immediate_ invitation, just an indication that John could do it again at some theoretical point in the future. Not that he minded, at least not while the bulgelicker was actually doing it.

And fuck, maybe by the time John got tired of playing with his horns, he'd be ready to go again. Karkat would certainly be so thoroughly subdued by that point that John wouldn't have to do a damn thing to keep him from getting aggressive for quite a while.

In the meantime Karkat let himself be swept away on a tide of bliss, as much from the feel of John against him as the touch on his horns.

He didn't even miss the taste of blood enough to register that he didn't miss it. He'd found something far better.


End file.
